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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28018533">Family history</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendragon19/pseuds/greendragon19'>greendragon19</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Seven Deadly Synths (Short Film)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, Crack, Family, Octopunk Advent, One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:42:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28018533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendragon19/pseuds/greendragon19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Octopunk Advent prompt 12 - Family.<br/>A fun one shot of a conversation between Seth and his dad at christmas. It’s all very awkward and I’m hoping funny.<br/>I've left the characters of Seth's parents kind of vague, only putting in what i need to get my idea a cross.<br/>Set in some ambiguous moment cus the deadly synth aren't mentioned so it could be before or after the film.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jared/Mag/Seth (Seven Deadly Synths)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Family history</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the first time I have properly written anything that isn't angst driven so I am hoping the humor comes through, enjoy! Happy octopunk advent can’t believe we are halfway through already.<br/>Also please don't judge me for my tittle i'm crappy at naming things.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We should go home, watch Nightmare before Christmas and not see anyone, like I suggested,” Seth muttered. He was fidgeting nervously as they waited outside the door.<br/>
“You're being ridiculous,” Mag hissed back, keeping her voice down as to not alert the people inside. “It’s christmas eve and your Mom invited the three of us for dinner, we aren't going anywhere.”<br/>
“I don’t see what the big deal is?” Jared piped up from behind them. “Your Moms great, beside the christmas cookies you brought back last year were amazing,”</p><p>“It's my dad, it's always been … complicated between us.” Seth added thoughtfully. “Look, I'm pretty sure he has never expressed an emotion in his entire life and ever since mom has started taking him to see a couples counsellor it's all doctor Linda this and doctor Linda that,” Seth took a breath looking at his partners hoping they understood. Jared and Mag both looked blankly back at him,<br/>
“So?” Mag asked with a shrug “isn't that a good thing?”<br/>
Seth sighed “He is a ticking time bomb leading up to a big emotional heart to heart and it's going to be awful!”</p><p>Mag turned facing Seth completely, her features soft and sincere, “Babe, I love you but I stand by what I said before,” She reached past him pressing the doorbell, “you're being ridiculous! "<br/>
Seth turned to Jared for help, he shrugged apologetically, “What she said,” he grinned.<br/>
“Fine, just promise you won't leave me alone with him,” Seth pleaded but Jared and Mag never got to answer because the door opened. The three of them were greeted by a homely looking woman in her fifties.<br/>
Seth’s mother rushed them inside, pulling each of them in for a hug, all the while muttering about the cold and their inadequate coats.</p><p> </p><p>The silence was almost deafening even though it wasn’t actually silent, a small radio in the corner played classical music gently through the room but the lack of human voices made Seth's ears ring. His only comfort was Jared and Mag sat either side of him on the couch. After she had greeted them all and given them a drink his mom had soon disappeared after some emergency in the kitchen. Leaving Seth, Jared and Mag alone with his father. He was a large and surly looking man, he had just barely managed a mumbled hello and a firm handshake as a greeting to each of them before returning to his chair in silence..</p><p>Mag’s phone rang making Seth jump slightly, He clutched his hands anxiously around his glass of eggnog. She pulled her phone from her pocket checking the caller ID.<br/>
“It’s my Mom,” she said as she stood up already answering the phone and leaving the room as she did.<br/>
“So Dad how’s the consulting work going?” Seth asked, trying to fill the quiet as best he could.<br/>
“It’s fine,” his dad replied nodding a little.<br/>
“Great,”</p><p>“Excuse me, Jared dear,” Seth's Mom said, popping her head around the door less than a minute after Mag had gone, “would you help me with something in the kitchen for a second,” she sounded cheery but was glancing at his father in a way that implied he needed to speak with his son.<br/>
Seth glared at Jared, pleading him to stay ‘don't you dare’ he thought they had a deal. Sort of.<br/>
“Sure thing,” Jared replied a little awkwardly, as he stood up, glancing back apologetically to Seth and following the older lady towards the kitchen.</p><p>The air felt stiff and Seth took a large swig of his eggnog, his father stood up and paced across the room a couple of times, as if he had somewhere he wanted to go but had forgotten. Eventually clearing his throat he sat down on a chair adjacent to Seth.<br/>
He cleared his throat yet again, turning to his son giving him a somewhat awkward smile that Seth suspected was supposed to be encouraging. Seth returned it trying to suppress his rising panic.<br/>
“What’s up, Dad?” he asked after a couple more minutes of silence, if he knew one thing about his father it was that he would never start an awkward conversation unprompted and maybe it was time that they got it out in the open.<br/>
His father patted Seth firmly on the shoulder “Mom has pointed out that for the last couple of years or so there have been some ... tensions between us,”<br/>
“Dad, we really don't have to do this, it's Christmas,” Seth rushed, afraid of where this was headed. The truth was things had been tense between them for more than a couple of years, ever since he was a teenager.<br/>
“No no! like Doctor Linda says our feelings are important and they should be heard,” his dad nodded slightly, taking a sip of his brandy.<br/>
oh god! here we go, Seth took another large drink and silently wished his mother would be more liberal with the nog part of eggnog.</p><p>His father clasped his hands together taking a deep breath, “Seth you know that I love you but you've got to understand that your…um... lifestyle choice is uh...” he exhaled through his nose as if he was trying to find the right words. “ Well it's not something I ever imagined for one of my kids,”<br/>
“Dad I…”<br/>
“No please let me finish,” he interrupted before Seth could form a sentence. “Don’t get me wrong I know you think i'm just some closed minded old coot but I was young once too, I experimented with it in collage, practically everyone was trying it back then but it just wasn't for me,”<br/>
Seth squirmed back into the couch hopping if he was really lucky it might swallow him whole.<br/>
“I used to ask myself it was something I did wrong, I know your aunt on your mothers side was always very open with her interest in that sort of thing,” he frowned a little, bracing himself against his knee with his arm, “and when you were a kid you never played with the toys that I thought you would but I guess I just figured you'd grow out of it,” he sighed, inhaling deeply. Seth looked anywhere but at his father.</p><p>“and then when you were a teenager and I walked in on you in your room and you were...”<br/>
“OH GOD! dad this really isn't necessary,” Seth interrupted springing to his feet he turned walking briskly over to the drinks table and refilling his eggnog.</p><p>His dad walked up beside Seth and placed his own glass on the table. Gripping Seth’s shoulder lightly, making him turn to look at him.<br/>
“We need to talk about this son,” Seth groaned turning to look at his father, “I walked in on you while you were…,” He took another deep breath his skin paling slightly, “playing that synthesizer and I reacted poorly,” He took his hand off Seth's shoulder running it through his own hair letting out a shaking breath.<br/>
Seth remembered it well, he had spent months saving up to buy his first synthiser, he snuck it into the house in secret knowing that his Juilliard trained classical musician father would have hated it. He remembered the anticipation of touching it and no sooner then he had his father walking in and then briskly walking out, he had hardly classed it as a reaction but anytime Seth mentioned synth music his father would change the subject he hadn’t taken long before Seth had given up on talking to his dad about music entirely.</p><p> “I need to accept that my son is a...a synth musician,” His dad said gruffly, the statement would have held more impact if it weren't for the slight quotation marks he made with his hands.<br/>
Seth rolled his eyes. “Were those really necessary?”<br/>
“No.... No  your right I'm sorry,” he said sniffing slightly as if to hold back tears “its an old habit, synthesizer music is a valid form of music,”<br/>
Seth sniffed too blinking a few times to keep himself from crying. “Coming from you dad that really means a lot,” for second Seth thought they might hug, for second so did his father but that could set a precedent with his other children if they found out so instead he cleared his throat clasping Seth on the shoulder one last time before pouring himself another brandy and sitting down in his favourite armchair. </p><p>Seth sat back on the couch with his newly replenished glass of eggnog. The air between them felt almost a little lighter.<br/>
“Nicky is doing well with the cello,” Seth said after a moment of silence, Seth was never good with silence. “He got accepted into a quartet right?”<br/>
His father nodded “yeah he’s good,” he took a sip of his brandy, “doesn't have the same ear for music that the two of us have though,” Seth nodded a little how he wished his dad was more for chit chat but then like angels descending from heaven and bearing cookies Mag and Jared came in the room.<br/>
“Your brother called he is being delayed cus of the snow so your mom said we should keep ourselves going on these,” said Jared happily taking a snickerdoodle from the plate before setting it down and he and Mag took a seat on either side of the couch beside Seth.<br/>
His father got up “I’ll go see how she’s doing,” he muttered before leaving.<br/>
“How long were you listening for?” Seth asked, biting the head off of a gingerbread man.<br/>
Mag shrugged “Not long,” Seth raised a questioning eyebrow at her, “Maybe five minutes or so,” she admitted “That really didn’t go where I thought it would,”<br/>
Seth furrowed his brow “What did you think it would be about?”<br/>
Mag opened her mouth to answer closing it again and shaking her head with a fond smile, “It really doesn't matter, babe.” She took a generous slurp out of Seth's eggnog, "Happy Christmas!"</p>
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